FOX Chronicles
by Antares Starfire
Summary: Darkness spread suddenly across the village, as if the sun had been whisked away from the sky. There was a low rumbling and a very distinct growl. Several shinobi looked up and all hell seemed to break loose. “Oh my God… Is that the Kyuubi!”
1. Chapter 1

The fumes and clouds from the various buildings that had caught fire from all the destruction the invaders were causing rose through several dozens of meters into the air. Of course when it came to Pain, it wasn't sure as to whether it should be counted as several attackers at once or just one.

A mass of shadows passed fleetingly, signaling various Konoha shinobi crossing the streets. Rather unusual for a ninja to not be using the roofs, but walking down in the streets was actually the safest way to keep safe from the summons of one of Pain's many bodies. They paused slightly as the one in the front pulled off its hitai-ate and used it as a mirror to survey the next street. With a hand sign indicating free way, all of them prepared for another moment of high-speed running. Just as the first three made into the sun lit street in front of them, there was an enormous booming noise and several building came crashing down, effectively burying the three unfortunate soldiers. The others stopped abruptly and sought hiding places among the debris and the miraculously intact alley they had come from.

Darkness spread suddenly across the village, as if the sun had been whisked away from the sky. There was a low rumbling and a very distinct growl. Several shinobi looked up and all hell seemed to break loose.

"Fuck!!"

"Oh my God… Is that the Kyuubi?!"

"The Demon has broken loose of the seal?"

"Is the Uzumaki boy O.K.? Don't you have to kill the vessel to free the Demon?"

"We have to get out of here!!!"

The buildings around them came crashing down at unnatural speed, as the monster used one of its tails to bring them down on the ninja bellow.

* * *

Sakura ran as fast as she could across the destroyed Konoha. This just couldn't be happening! Her heart tightened uncomfortably as she saw the red hue cast by the dreaded creature towering above the village, as it dedicated itself to apparently destroy as much of the village as it could. Where was Naruto? He couldn't be dead could he?

She kept running and running until she was almost under the Demon's figure. She sensed several huge chakra signatures as the six Pains seemingly took positions around them at a relatively safe distance. But Sakura paid no mind because she was busy looking for her blond teammate. She just barely registered the movement before one of Kyuubi's tails came sweeping across her and jerked her off her feet, throwing her through several debris and buildings, before she lost consciousness.

She woke up with the soft contact of fingers across her face. Her eyes took some adjusting to, but once she was able to properly focus the images that came across her brain, she was rewarded with the anxious, worried and worn out face of Uzumaki Naruto. At his side was the Godaime, and behind them several ANBU awaited, fidgety.

"Naruto?" she asked faintly. At his nod, she tried to get up.

Naruto sprung into action and helped her get up the best he could. It was then she noticed he was limping from one leg and had an arm almost completely smashed to bits. Blood had obviously been pouring off of the grievous wound, but Tsunade had already seen to it, it seemed.

"The Kyuubi…" she started.

"I know. It's loose." He coughed roughly and some blood came out. "They hit me with some sort of incantation or whatever. It got out. The seal isn't even damaged. I don't know how I survived. It's as if everything is in place. Except it's out. I don't understand."

"I'm surprised it didn't kill you." The Godaime mumbled, making her way through Sakura's injuries. The pink haired girl felt the tickling that signaled the chakra enhanced healing. The ground shook occasionally and rumblings could be heard. And felt.

"I told you more than once it could have. It looked at me and I was sure he would bite my head off. But then he just shoved me out of there with a flick of its tail. If I didn't know better, I'd have said it was trying to save me."

"What's happening? Where are we?" she asked.

"In what remains of the ANBU headquarters. The Kyuubi and Pain are still fighting out there. All the civilians have been evacuated. We are currently using this wrecked building to keep the injured away from harm." She was surprised her question had been answered by one of the masked ANBU. Surprised still when the ANBU took of his mask and was revealed to be Kakashi-sensei, back into all of its former ANBU uniform.

"Kakashi-sensei…" she said wonderingly.

Sakura was distracted by Naruto's sudden movement on her side. He had gotten up. With some difficulty, but he had.

"Where do you think you are going?" Tsunade asked.

"He's still out there. I'm not going to let those bastards have the Fox!" he said with his back turned to them.

"You can't go alone!" Sakura managed to gasp. She forced herself to sit up and tried to work on getting to her feet.

"You can come… If you think you can keep up." He turned seriously to her and she saw that his face now had a strange red pigmentation around the edges of his eyes. The irises had become yellow and horizontally slit. Like the ones of a toad. He didn't give her the time to question before he launched himself through the tunnel of debris at surprising speed. No human could match that velocity without outside help!

Tsunade sighed: "We better get after him."

* * *

Pain landed awkwardly on one of the few rooftops that were still intact on their vicinity. Things weren't going as planned. The Demon Fox proved to be a formidable foe, and it showed no outward signs of tiring or weakness. And he had already lost two bodies to their enemy.

He could sense several chakra signatures approaching, several large enough that had to be ANBU. If those engaged battle with him, he would be in trouble. Not to mention the Kyuubi would not let an opportunity to burn him to cinders pass that easily.

All of four remaining bodies jumped into the sky when a blast of ultra-high condensed chakra passed through them, from the mouth of the Huge Red Fox in front of them. With a frown, both from weariness and from the inconveniency the setback represented he gave one order to the other Pains:

"Retreat."

It would take some time before he had the replacements for the lost bodies ready for action. Still, it wasn't as if the Leafs could do anything now. The Demon was loose and their Yondaime long gone. They couldn't reseal it. With luck, the Fox would destroy them when he fled. Either way, it would be easy to capture it once he was back to full capacity.

With that last thought, Pain retreated from Konoha and headed back to Rain. It took him little time to cross the protective wards around the village, before a reverse kuchiyose took them away from Konohagakure.

* * *

Sakura followed the Godaime the best she could manage, followed closely by the four ANBU that had accompanied them. They suddenly came to a halt as they encountered Naruto.

The ninja was looking up in the direction of the Walls, opposite to the Demon, with a mask of disgust spread in his face. Looking up quickly they still managed to catch a glimpse of Pain, fleeing the scene.

"Well… Pain seems to be gone. Let's just hope the fox goes too, or we won't survive this one." One of the ANBU said.

Several moments passed in which both of them and the Fox looked at each other.

Almost as if answering him, a loud moaning was heard and the body of the Nine-Tails came crashing down. Its head landed just a few meters away from them and even though it wasn't human, Sakura recognized the signs of severe exhaustion and deadly wounds on the Demons muzzle.

There was some more flickering of shadows and team 10 dropped from the sky. Ino gaped at the Fox.

"What the hell IS that!!"

"The Nine-Tails…" Sakura answered rather hollowly.

"WHAT?! But I thought the Yondaime –" Whatever Ino had been trying to say was interrupted by Naruto's following actions.

Oblivious to the discussion behind him, the blonde male slowly but surely made his way to the Fox. For those watching, it wouldn't have been apparent he was approaching a Demon.

"Are you INSANE!!? What are you doing, baka?!!" Ino screamed, making a move towards him.

Sakura's arm stopped her firmly.

"What are you doing? He's going to get himself killed!! That's Kyuubi, for heaven's sake! It's a monster!!" Ino screamed to her friend.

Sakura gave her a guarded look that shut her up immediately and replied: "If there is someone who is safe around it… than that person is Naruto."

Naruto approached the Fox and put his hand on its nose, giving it a strong pat.

"You look like you've just gotten one hell of a beat up, bastard fox." He stated, like he was sending a jibe to Sasuke or something.

The crimson furred animal opened one of its enormous eyes and pulled its lips in a motion that almost remembered a smile. Clouds of dust formed around them rhythmically, as a rumbling sound was heard, and it took a while for Sakura to understand the Fox was actually laughing.

Team 10 was dumbfounded beyond any reaction. The ANBU and Tsunade had seemingly decided to wait where things would seem to go.

When it finally spoke, the Fox's voice was rough and carried an edge of defeat Sakura had never thought she would hear in a Tailed Beast.

"**I always knew you had guts, kid… And now I discover my assessment of your intelligence isn't that off either!"** it paused, breathing labouredly, **"What are you doing here? Are you a fool? I could eat you now, you know. No bars to hold me…"**

"Are you telling me that _thing_ has been imprisoned here in Konoha?" Ino whispered urgently to her pink haired companion.

"Ino… Shut up."

Naruto had apparently resumed his conversation with the Demon.

"Unlikely. You don't seem capable of even batting an eyelash at me right now, let alone put me through your mouth. Besides, I'm rather bad for food. I'd kill you with an upset stomach." He said unconcernedly. "Why didn't you kill me?" He then asked, deadpan.

The Fox sighed and hesitated. A long time passed before it talked again.

"**This air. It kills me. Hurts me, prevents me from healing. My abilities at healing where left behind… at that place you saw me before." **It said, fixating its eye intently on Naruto. **"I… left something in there. A cub, if you will. My legacy. Will you look for my successor, Namikaze's Legacy?"**

"What?"

"A Cub?!"

"Did I hear that right?"

"What does that mean?"

The apparent chaos of confusion around him seemed to go unnoticed by Naruto, who, by that time was now eyeing the Fox with serious eyes.

"Why did you do that?"

"**I knew I would die if I were released. It's the way the barrier it's designed. But there must always be a Nine-Tailed Fox, or the balance would be compromised and the world as you know would come to an end. You only saw my rampaging fury, sad you didn't know the Bijuu's more important mission…"**

"I don't understand, explain yourself." Naruto asked softly. The others remained silent, listening intently.

"**We keep chakra existing in this world! Where its source, its physical manifestation. If we were to disappear, ninjas would disappear; life based on chakra would disappear. Animals would eventually resurge but not before millennia had passed. We keep the world as it is."** It sighed again **"We are not rampaging Demons, we only want our freedom. In the past we worked with humans, but then you started to try and take us prisoners. How would you react if they tried to take away your freedom? If they killed your important people? Of course you'd want to bite their heads off!!!"** It barked the last part of the speech, just to fall back again, breathing deeply, with spasms of pain running across its body. **"Just promise me you'll look for it, Namikaze's Legacy."**

"Why do you keep calling me that?"

"**Are you not the Legacy the Yondaime left behind? How should I call you? Take care of my Legacy, kid. It's all I ask. And tell him the tales of the great Nine-tailed fox, so that the cub will grow proud like its progenitor!" **It sighed again more deeply, and looked at Naruto again, **"Fare thee well, Namikaze's Legacy. I wish we could have met under different circumstances."**

The Great Lord of the Bijuu closed its eyes. Which went open again with a snap, when it realized that Naruto had approached him and started unzipping it upper clothes.

"**What? Do you think stripping will put me off in a good mood?" **It said, seemingly trying to joke. **"Wh-What're you doing?!" **It barked surprised as Naruto thrust his hands into its chakra hue. The seal started glowing and a faint humming could be heard.

"What do you think I'm doing, you stupid Fox? I'm reabsorbing you of course! That way you won't die."

"**Why are you doing this? This is your opportunity to live free. Why sacrifice it this way?" **It asked feebly, as it was absorbed more and more.

Naruto looked at its eyes and said, somberly: "No child should grow up without parents."

* * *

**A/N.: For those of you reading The Nightshade, I haven't forgotten it. It's just that I actually dreamt this one and it wouldn't leave me away untill I put it on the paper. It might evolve into a full story, though not as big as I'm planning making the Nightshade. Tell me what you think!**

**As always, thanks for the reviews and sorry for the possible mistakes.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

"No child should grow up without parents."

"I-I don't understand!" Ino said feebly.

"Ino… Shut up." Sakura repeated.

Naruto's hands' skin was starting to peel off, from the sheer power of the Fox's chakra. The Bijuu was now starting to fade away and one could make out the half-destroyed buildings behind it. With a voice that seemed to come from far away, Kyuubi fixed its eye on Naruto once again and said: **"See ya latter… kit."** And disappeared.

As soon as the Fox was completely absorbed, Naruto's unnatural regeneration capabilities seemed to kick in full force and, to team 10 complete amazement, his hands reformed the abused skin in less than 30 seconds. Ino was gaping, Choji was eating his last bag of chips at the quickest speed he could manage and Shikamaru had a look of utter surprise, while maintaining, at the same time, a pondering expression.

"Oh! You guys were here, huh?..."

***

Naruto occupied one of his favorite seats: atop the head of the Fourth in the Hokage Monument, sitting in lotus position. His hands were brought together, curved upwards with their backs rubbing against each other. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and prepared to meditate, under the watchful eye of his only remaining team mate: Sakura.

The pink haired ninja knew the blonde was getting ready to meet with the Nine-Tails, but after the display of the previous day she didn't really feel all that preoccupied. Of course the aftermath had been a pain, especially because of the obnoxious witch that was Ino. Her former rival was even louder than usual and demanded answers with a passion. Her self-righteous demands were cut short, however, first by Naruto, who shut her up just by looking at her with his Kyuubi influenced eyes, and by the Godaime who dragged Team 10 to the temporary headquarters in the ANBU facilities and proceeded to very explicitly elucidate the three shinobi of what exactly a double S-class secret was and what was entitled to those who broke one.

Surprisingly, the Hokage Monument had escaped the destruction without a scratch and so had the safe-houses lodged into the cliff itself. Probably the only real good outcome of the invasion, Sakura thought, was the fact that the villagers now seemed to be under the impression that Naruto had somehow gained total control over the Bijuu he had sealed in him. The fact that the Fox had managed to scare away the invaders and that the ninja who had the buildings fall on top of them were uninjured led to the belief that all those events had been a clever tactic devised by Naruto, who was now regarded as something of a hero. Sakura wasn't about to rectify some inconsistencies with that story. Such as the fact Naruto had apparently only reached control over the Bijuu _after_ the invasion.

Sakura looked at his team mate. His face was so serious and calm. She felt like he was going far away, out of her reach…

Which was true. If Sakura had tried to say something to Naruto she wouldn't get an answer. He was out of reach, isolated from the real world, which was why Sakura was standing guard, in case something happened and he couldn't snap out of the trance fast enough.

Naruto's feet were damp from the water on the ground. 'Sweet Mother of God, why the hell does it always have to feel like a freaking flood has just taken place, in here?' he thought in annoyance. Why was his mindscape so poorly treated, anyway? Why not a garden or a luxurious mansion? Why the hell did it have to be a sewer? Such thoughts consumed his time, while his feet automatically made their way to where he knew Kyuubi's seal was located. Apparently the Fox had heard his misgivings, because as soon as he stepped into the great room with the barred gates he said:

"'**Tis a materrrializzation of yourrr subconsciouss brrrat. It iss what you arrre without any masssk to coverrr it!"**

The Fox's speech was a little off, and Naruto looked up in surprise. Kyuubi was holding a black fur ball in his teeth. With a sudden thought he recognized it should be the kit the Demon-Fox had mentioned earlier.

"What're you doing?"

"**What doesss it look like? I'm keeping it off thisss blashted waterrr." **Tendrils of the fox's chakra grabbed the young animal and, passing it through the gates, handed it to Naruto, **"Take it."**

Naruto looked at the sleeping kit in his arms. "What the hell do I do with it?"

"**Drop a bit of your blood in its mouth and summon it once you get back outside."** The Demon Fox ordered.

"What? Why would I unleash another tailed demon in the world? You're out of your mind, bastard!"

"**Idiot! If you don't do it the resonance between me and the kit will destroy us all. I told you before: There can only be one Nine-Tails. Besides," **it continued, **"What do you know? It has always been like this. Every time a new Nine-Tails surfaces it is a human who must take care of it to adulthood."**

"Really? Who took care of you?"

"**You maggots called him the Sage of the Six Paths."**

Naruto stroke the kit's fur a bit. "Why is it black?"

"**For the same reason I'm crimson…"**

"And that's because…" Naruto insisted.

The Demon-Fox opened its gargantuan mouth in a smile, **"No idea!"**

Naruto slapped his palm against the forehead. Then a thought assaulted him, "It? What gender is this kit? Guy or Girl?"

"**It doesn't work that way, you dimwit. I've isolated my core around a small patch of chakra and expelled it from the body. It took that new form, sort of like amoebas reproduce. Everything that remains behind is my conscience and memories. The chakra composing me would have dissipated if it were not for the seal."** The booming voice of the Demon Fox said, **"We don't have a gender. Once you get the kit outside it will start absorbing residual chakra from the world around it and eventually it will grow up to be as big and powerful as I am. Don't be dumbasses this time around, or it may come back to bite you in the ass, just as I did!"**

Naruto frowned, "What's an amoeba?"

"**Nothing you need to know."**

"If this guy's gonna be the next Nine-Tails, what will happen to you?" Naruto asked softly.

"**I'll remain here until I'm completely absorbed by your seal. My chakra will become your chakra and boost your reserves. All that will remain in the end is my conscience to keep you company until we both die."** It smiled, **"I'm going to enjoy torturing you for the next decades!"**

Naruto shook his head. The Fox might not be set to eat him anymore but he still had the same sadistic sense of humor ever. Biting his own thumb, he let a few droplets of blood fall on the kit's muzzle and watched, fascinated, as the blood raced to its mouth on its own. The young fox became immaterial and disappeared.

"**Don't forget to summon it as soon as you get outside, or we'll all die here!"** the Fox reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah! Later Fox." He said turning away from the Gate, as the mindscape around him started to dissolve.

From far away came the Fox's reply, **"You'll be reforming the Foxes' contract, kit… I'll explain later."**

Naruto turned around in surprise, but the mindscape had already disappeared, "Bastard! Always having the last word…"

*

Sakura caught a small movement from Naruto in the periphery of her vision. She had been sitting a bit farther down the head of the Fourth Hokage, enjoying the light breeze and watching over the village. She could see why Naruto liked it there.

She quickly got up and waited for her teammate to fully wake from the slumber that had befallen him.

"How did it go?" She asked.

Naruto spared a quick glance at her. He bit his thumb and sprayed the blood on his palm.

"Just a moment, Sakura-chan…" he concentrated on the black kit and exclaimed, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

There was a low puff and a smoke screen appeared for brief moments.

"Aww!.." Sakura cooed softly, while getting on her knees to have a better view of the adorable kit that had just appeared in front of Naruto, "It's so cute… What is it?"

"That… is the next Nine-Tails." Naruto clarified with blunt simplicity.

Sakura blinked once as the concept wrapped around her mind. The small black fox was curled in a ball, sleeping, and she could see its small chest rising with its breathing.

"How can this be the next Nine-Tails?" she asked, gently poking the kit with her index finger around the ears, "It only has one Tail. And it isn't fifteen stores tall. And it doesn't emit vicious chakra."

Naruto searched for the best way to explain what had just been told to him by the Fox.

"Kyuubi said it's the result of its core being separated from it, or whatever. He said he took his core, surrounded it with a little chakra and that formed the kit. It'll start absorbing chakra waste around us and eventually grow to be a full Nine-Tails." He paused and scratched his chin, "I had to get it out from the seal. The Bastard Fox said there can only be one Nine-Tails and that the resonance between him and the kit would kill us all if I didn't do it."

Sakura pursed her lips disapprovingly, "The Nine-Tails _is_ a jerk, isn't it?"

Naruto laughed and got to his feet, "You bet he is!" he exclaimed merrily, watching the village bellow. Anyone who saw him wouldn't say he had just met a Demon-Fox or that his village had been under attack just one day before.

Sakura remained down, scratching the little fox's head.

"So… if there can only be one Nine-Tails, what will happen to the Bastard-Fox?" she asked, taking one of Naruto's preferred ways of referring to the sealed Kitsune. If they didn't differentiate between it and the kit, conversations would be terribly confusing, she'd bet.

Naruto made a thinking pout that Sakura secretly found adorable. Not that she would tell him.

"He said his chakra will be totally absorbed by me. All that will remain is his consciousness, trapped behind the seal. When I die, he's through." He frowned, as part of the conversation came back to him, "He said I was supposed to raise the kit; that it has always been a human that raises the next Nine-Tails. The last guy was a man called the Sage of the Six Paths… Do you know anything about him, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura's eyes widened slightly with the revelation. The Sage of the Six Paths!

"He was the creator of the ninja way." She blurted out in confusion, "He taught our ancestors how to mold chakra and develop Jutsu. Iruka-sensei mentioned him briefly in one of our history lessons: he is considered the greatest man of all times. It's all I know." She looked at the blond, "I'm surprised you didn't know about him."

"History was never really my thing." Naruto answered easily, getting down next to her and the kit, "The past is in the past; I can't change it. What really worries me is the Future."

Sakura remained silent for a bit, absorbing the unexpected wisdom of his words. Then she voiced her misgivings, "I'm confused, though… The Sage of the Six Paths is considered a great man and a hero who wanted world peace… How come the Kyuubi became what it is if he was raised by such a man? Is everything we know about him wrong?"

The Hokage's 'Will of Fire' philosophy was considered by many, including Konoha itself, as the best example of the view the Sage professed. She didn't want to believe the foundations of their way of life were that much warped...

She watched as Naruto played with the dusty rock of the Fourth's hair.

"Kyuubi said for us not to be dumbasses this time around or this little guy could come back to bite us in the…" he risked a quick glance at her, "behind… like he had. Maybe we did something that angered him to such an extent he became an embodiment of hate. I don't know – the Bastard is really uptight about his past. Maybe with the passing of the years, someday, we'll get the answer from him."

The orange clad ninja dusted off his hands and asked, "Anything happen while I was out?"

Sakura shook her head in denial and they remained in companionable silence for a while more.

"Naruto…" she didn't know whether to ask the question or not but, once his eyes focused on her, she knew it was best to just ask, "What was that technique you used when you took off after Pain, yesterday? Your eyes got all weird and yellow…"

Naruto looked up at the clods in silence for a while. As the seconds passed Sakura started to regret asking the question. He had never demanded an explanation for her strength enhancing techniques.

"Forget it, you don't have to ans-"

"It's called Sage Mode." He interrupted her hasted apology, "I learnt it while training with the Toads at Myõbokuzan. It's the result achieved when one has mastered all aspects of Senjutsu. With it I'm stronger, faster, all around better. Fukasaku-san said it 'activated' my body, or something. I had just finished it before we got the news of Konoha being under attack… It seems I wasn't fast enough." He finished rather miserably.

Sakura always knew Naruto was rather hard on himself when it came to protecting that which was precious to him. This was going a little too far in her opinion, though.

"Hey, now! Don't go spewing nonsense!" she exclaimed giving him a slight nudge, "you had no way of knowing any sooner. The toad you guys left behind had to take some time to make it back to Myõbokuzan…"

Naruto blinked confused, "He never made it through. He was killed here in Konoha. When its name disappeared from the Toad's list, that's when we had the first inkling something was wrong in Konoha." Taking in the bewildered look on his teammate's face he offered a chance explanation, "Maybe he was killed by Pain while trying to make it back home to warn us…"

"Maybe…" Sakura agreed. She hesitated a little, "Can you show me it?"

Naruto grinned ruefully, "I don't know… You seem to be afraid of toads. I don't wanna ruin my chances of going on a date with you by scaring you." He chuckled at the dark glare she sent his way and held his hands up, "I'm kidding! O.K. just wait a bit." He said sitting in the same way he had when preparing for meditation.

Outwardly nothing seemed to change. But has she watched with rapt attention, Sakura felt something stir. It was like the whisper of the wind but unheard and unfelt. Then Naruto's eyes acquired that red pigmentation around them. He felt intimidating. Not menacing but… Great; worthy of respect.

Naruto opened his eyes and Sakura saw they had once again become yellow, with the horizontal slit irises. She realized her mouth was hanging slightly open so she closed it. She tried to brush his hair off in order to touch the skin around his eyes but found herself stopped by his hand.

"Don't." the blond said, gently putting her hand down, "In Sage Mode everything in me is a weapon. Even hair. You'd get hurt trying to get it out of the way." To illustrate the claim he took a strand of his Senjutsu chakra enhanced hair. It stood erect and straight between his fingers and, when he pressed it against the rock, Sakura saw that it effortlessly pierced through it, like a hot needle in butter.

"In Sage Mode I can feel _and_ differentiate the chakra of everyone in the village." He said.

Sakura had to admit she was suitably impressed. That ability alone would make him one of the best sensors in Konoha.

"But," the blond Naruto continued, "It has a major drawback: the user has to be completely still in order to gather the necessary Sage chakra. Usually this is bypassed by having Fukasaku-san and his wife merging with the user but Kyuubi´s chakra doesn't allow that with me. Until I've absorbed all of it, I'll have to use shadow clones to gather the energy and dispel one of them every time I run out of Sage Mode. I can only make two of them for that, though. Anymore would disrupt my chakra and make it impossible to correctly mix Sage chakra with my own. Then I'd turn into a Toad Stone Statue. That makes it very hard to fight a really strong enemy alone without previous preparation."

Sakura nodded in comprehension before a section of Naruto's speech somersaulted in front of her mind, "Wait, Stone Statue?"

Naruto smiled subdued and stood up, "There are loads of Stone Statues at Myõbokuzan; all former humans who tried to learn Senjutsu and failed. It's that hard a skill to master; I was told not even Ero-sennin managed to completely control it. Fukasaku-san says I must be gifted." He shook his head, smiling a little embarrassed. It was obvious he didn't quite believe in the truth of the old toad's praise. "I'm working on extending the amount of time I am able to remain in Sage Mode, but it takes time. I just hope I don't have to fight anyone really strong before I can make some progress…" he remarked.

"If you have to," Sakura answered with a firm expression, getting up next to him, "I'll help you! I'll stall our enemies until you manage Senjutsu Chakra. I'll get stronger too. Next time, I'll be there by your side, fighting. Like we always should: as a Team!"

Naruto smiled brightly and agreed, "And then we'll finally get Sasuke back!"

"Yeah!"

She watched Naruto's face. The sun reflected on his hair made it seem made of gold. The solemn moment was broken by a sudden yawn from the black kit. Naruto immediately got down, and greeted the animal in his usual manner, "Hey, Fur ball! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Let's get along well, shall we?" He grabbed the kit and got up, bringing it to eye level. The small fox jerked its head forward and delivered a wet lick to his nose.

Sakura laughed lightly at the sight and asked, "How are you going to call it? Kyuubi seems a bit… unwise, considering the Village's history with the Demon-Fox."

Naruto thought for a while. "Well… it sort of looks like Akamaru when it was small… How about Dog?"

There was a hollow thump and down in the village Shikamaru, lifting his head from the repair work he was, albeit rather unwillingly, doing, related it to the Sakura's-Fist-Meets-Naruto's-Head event.

"Don't be ridiculous!" the Pink haired kunoichi hissed.

"Ow!" Naruto made, while massaging his head. He should have maintained the Sage Mode a while longer, he thought. "Alright, alright… It's black so what about Kuro?"

"That is… better." Sakura reluctantly agreed.

"What you say about it, Kuro-chan?" he asked the fox. The kit licked his nose again.

"Right, Kuro it is then!" he exclaimed while triumphantly raising his fist in the air.

Sakura sighed.

There was a loud rumbling and down bellow, in the village, part of a rebuilt building went crashing to the ground. The frustrated voice of Ebisu floated towards the two of them: "Damnit, Konohamaru! I told you to be careful!"

"Lee! Let's show the youthful Konohamaru how to get things done!"

"YOSH, Gai-sensei!! And if I can't rebuild it in two hours I shall roll around Konoha five thousand times without using my arms or legs for help!"

Naruto scratched his head, "Heh, we'd better go help them."

He positioned the kit on his head, much like Kiba used to do with Akamaru. The animal seemed to visibly enjoy the place.

As Naruto started to slowly make his way down, Sakura's voice made him stop.

"Naruto…" she hesitated. Then her eyes averted his face and she said, half-murmuring, "I'm glad you made it back safely…"

He grinned.

* * *

**A/N.: Since I received a few request to continue this story, here's the second chapter of F.O.X. Chronicles. I hope you like it. I may update it further this week, since I have more chapters outlined, but then all my stories will be taking a break: yes, it's exam time in real world.**

**Review, please, or I'll send Kuro-chan your way :3  
**


	3. Chapter 3

"Ooh, yeah! That one's a good one too! You got a good eye for this, Kuro-chan!"

There was, Sakura decided, something deeply disturbing about seeing Naruto and a black kit trying to figure out the best flavour out of several kinds of instant ramen. But has she watched Naruto and the small fox get from a discussion to a full all-out war for the remaining noodles, the pink haired girl had to admit it had its amount of cuteness too. At least the kit part did.

She doubted they had even noticed she had entered the apartment. Or at the very least Naruto hadn't; it was hard to tell if the kit's senses were sharp enough to have noticed her coming in. Not that it had required that much skill, anyway: Naruto's door was, like always, unlocked. He only ever locked it when he was out on a mission. As long as he was in, everyone else could just come barrelling through without any trouble.

"Eww, look at this mess!" she exclaimed in a way of getting noticed, looking at the remains of the food fight that had been occurring, "You really should try and keep things clean, once in a while."

"Hi, Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted cheerfully, lifting his head at the sound of her voice, "Want some?"

Sakura stared inexpressively at the blond for a small moment.

"I, unlike some crazy ninja, don't enjoy having something as ramen for breakfast. How many times have I told you it's unhealthy, anyway?" she asked, rhetorically.

Naruto shrugged the question off easily, "I dunno. It hasn't harmed me yet."

She scowled, "That's only because the Fox doesn't let you come across any illness."

"Yeah, well, something good had to come out of this sealing a demon on my stomach deal for me." Naruto answered cheekily. He suddenly realized the ramen on the table had disappeared while he had been distracted with Sakura, "No! Kuro-chan!" he whined miserably.

The small pup jumped around atop the table emitting a series of playful high pitched shrieks. Sakura chuckled slightly, "You've just been owned, Naruto. At your own game, at that."

Naruto sent her a dirty look, before getting up from the chair he had been sitting in.

"So: what do I owe this visit? It's not like you to wander around so soon in the morning on a free-day." It had been almost a week since the invasion of Konoha and with the help of Naruto's Kage Bunshin and Yamato-taichou's Wood Element techniques, the repairs were well under way. Enough to finally give them some resting time.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "My _master_" she said the word master sarcastically, "thought it was a good idea to make me help with her affairs today. I've been up for four hours already!"

Naruto turned to see the clock on the wall. Nine in the morning.

"You're up since 5 o'clock?" he asked. At her weary nod he said, "So much for a day off… What is it then? You need my Kage Bunshin for some unexpected repairs?" he asked frowning.

Sakura shook her head, "Tsunade-sama wants to see you in her office. She also said for you to take Kuro." She clarified, pointing at the kit.

Naruto gave a small sigh and got up mumbling, "Guess my day off isn't going to last much longer either."

Sakura couldn't help the grin that appeared on her face.

***

Naruto walked beside her with the spring that was customary to him in each step. Kuro was safely hidden within Naruto's jumpsuit jacket, only occasionally springing its head out for a quick peak. No one knew about the kit and Naruto had told Sakura he wanted to keep things that way until he had the chance to speak with Tsunade about it. How the loudest and obnoxious ninja had managed to keep such thing a secret was beyond her, but Sakura had come to learn not to underestimate Naruto. Underneath the goofy outside appearance were a lot of surprises. Apparently, however, he had procrastinated on the subject long enough because the Godaime had seemingly thought of summoning him herself for it.

"**While you're at it, ask the hag for a big sealing scroll, would ya? At least as wide as the one the amphibians gave you and three times longer."**

Naruto tripped at the unexpected intervention from the Fox. He scowled, "Hey! No one calls baa-chan a hag but me. What do you want the scroll for, anyway?"

"**I told you you'll be recreating the Foxes' contract, you dimwit. You need a scroll for the signatures!"**

The connection went off and Naruto scowled a bit more. That ass-hole! He could at least explain things better.

Sakura had obviously noticed the look on his face because she asked: "What's wrong, Naruto?"

"The asshole," he answered, in disapproval, "Wants me to get a scroll from Baa-chan. Apparently it's for creating a Fox contract like the one I have for the Toads, but he didn't even deign to explain things all the way through." He sighed in resignation, "I suppose that's just the way he is…"

Sakura frowned a little herself, "But won't that interfere with the Toads' Contract?"

"You know, that's a good question. I gotta remember to ask the ass-hole when I speak to him again…"

"The Fox contract hasn't been in circulation for ages, you know?" Sakura was practically skipping at this point, "The last recorded summoner lived more than 300 years ago!"

"Really? How do you know that stuff? I didn't know that…" he asked, looking bewildered.

Sakura scowled slightly, "Iruka-sensei dedicated a whole day just talking about that, dummy. How did you manage to miss so many things in the academy and still pass?"

Naruto shrugged, "Must have been my awsomest skills as a ninja." He laughed.

Sakura grabbed him in a head-lock and rubbed her fist against his head. "Idiot! Awsomest isn't a word!"

"Aw! Aw! Aw! Sakura-chan…"

***

"HEY, Baa-chan!"

She didn't even care any more. No matter how hard she tried, Naruto always greeted the Godaime the same disrespectful way. Still, Sakura felt strangely vindicated when the heavy bottle of sake impacted into her teammate's forehead. That feeling, however, changed when she realised that her master had been drinking on the job again.

"Shishou! You shouldn't drink while working!"

"Sakura, I'm entitled to some relaxation, especially when I deal with brats like this" the Godaime flicked a finger to the fallen Naruto, "my entire day. Or do you prefer me escaping from this office and going to the Gambling Houses? I could do it, you know…"

Sakura opened her mouth and wisely shut it again.

"I thought so." The Fifth said smugly, "Brat, get up!"

"You bitchy hag! What the hell was that for?!"

"Shut up, you annoying little prick! And be thankful your punishment isn't worse. To he who implies I am old, only a punishment of blood can be rendered!"

The childish conversation was tuned off from Sakura's perception as she felt an unexpected weight on her left shoulder.

"They're both quite childish, don't you think, young woman?" said a wise voice.

Sakura turned her head. There was something on her shoulder. It had a beard. That was O.K. It was orange. It was wearing a cloak. That was O.K. It was orange. That was _not_ O.K. It had yellow, horizontally slit eyes, like the ones she had seen on Naruto. That was distressing on anyone but him. Its voice croaked. That was creepy. It was a toad.

Sakura's brain froze.

"AUUUGH!"

In a reflexive movement she tried to swat the toad away from her. It leaped gracefully from her shoulder and landed neatly on Naruto's, who, along with the Hokage, had been diverted from the discussion and was staring at her with a startled expression.

"What the…?" he mumbled. Then he noticed the toad, "Fukasaku-san?"

"Hello, Naruto-chan. It appears your friend is scared of me." The old toad stated calmly, like this was an everyday occurrence to him.

"Sakura stop being ridiculous." Tsunade ordered as the pink haired girl gave a whole body shudder and whimpered a little. Naruto could swear some of the hairs in her head had stood at attention.

"Now, now, Tsunade-chan, I seem to recall you having the same reaction the first times you saw us." Fukasaku said with an amused glint on his eyes, "In fact, if I remember correctly, you tried to punch Bunta into the village walls, the first time Jiraya summoned him in front of you…"

"The damn pervert tried to have him immobilize me so that he could 'research' appropriately!" Tsunade screeched indignantly.

Sakura peered discreetly at Naruto, to see how he handled the conversation about his deceased teacher. To her surprise she found him smiling slightly with a faraway look. Then he looked at her and quirked an eyebrow. Sakura hurriedly averted his gaze and concentrated on the discussion.

"The how about that other time when-"

"This conversation gets us nowhere!" Tsunade hissed, effectively cutting the elder toad statement off, "Let's focus on the important matters here."

"Of course." The old toad chuckled.

"Now," the blonde Hokage turned to the Jinchuuriki with a pointed glare, "Care to explain what the hell happened between you and the Kyuubi?"

Naruto frowned slightly at the tone but refrained himself from reacting to it.

"Simply put, it is no longer your concern." He answered dryly. At the unspoken question, he elaborated "the Bastard knows it's done for. The incantation those Akatsuki bastards hit me with seemed to change something. When the Bastard got out the seal seemed to react and set a death sentence over him. He couldn't survive outside of me. It's been sucking its chakra steadily now and he tells me he will eventually disappear and become just a voice in my head, with no direct influence."

Fukasaku nodded, "Yes, that was a safeguard placed by the Fourth in case someone managed to forcefully extract the Bijuu. Of course things would be different if you had willingly freed it or just merged with him."

"What?" Sakura's question was out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Jinchuuriki with sufficient control over their tenants can merge with them and temporarily become the Bijuu, controlling its actions. Of course the contrary also works, as you have seen before." Tsunade answered. "What about that?" she asked, pointing at the lump in Naruto's jacket.

The blond ninja unzipped the clothing and the head of Kuro-chan came out.

"This is the next Nine-Tails." Naruto explained, unaware of the frown in Tsunade's face, "I was told by the Bastard-Fox that there must always exist a Nine-Tails lest the world be thrown out of order. It also said I had to get it out of me to avoid a resonance, or whatever so that we wouldn't all die, so I summoned it out first chance I got. The Fox told me every time a new Nine-Tails surfaces, a human must take care of it." He hesitated, "Is something wrong, Baa-chan?"

Tsunade took a while to answer and when she did she spoke slowly, as if unsure of how to say what she wanted.

"We have no records of such a thing actually happening. Granted, our recorded history doesn't reach very far but even so… I think it may be best for us to simply… dispose of it."

"WHAT?!" Naruto yelled, outraged, hiding the kit from view in a reflexive movement. "Have you finally gone senile, old hag? Look at it! It's a baby, it doesn't have anything to do with the Bastard!"

"The risk is too high. Besides, the villagers would never accept a fox in the village, it reminds them to much of the Kyuubi." Tsunade argued.

"Yeah, just put the blame on the innocents, right? This village is pretty good at that: Right from the Fourth to the civilians." Naruto remarked scantily.

Tsunade jammed her fist to the desk, splitting it in two. There was a look of fury in her face like Sakura had never seen before. The Pink haired girl started to tremble slightly, fearing for her teammate. Naruto however was steady and cold. Sakura realized faintly he was readying for a fight.

"DON'T YOU DARE DOWNPLAYING THE FOURTH SACRIFICE FOR YOU OR THIS VILLAGE!"

"Yeah, because my life gained so much from it." Naruto answered in a calm, void voice that contrasted fiercely with the Fifth's anger, "and now you're trying to do it all over again: sacrifice an innocent so that you all can keep living without a care."

It was ironic really, Sakura thought. From what she had been told, a couple years before there had been a similar conversation between the two of them. Now the roles had reversed, with Tsunade defending the Hokage and the Village from Naruto's rather surprising contempt. Then again maybe it was to be expected; Sakura wasn't sure she would have taken what life had thrown Naruto as well as he had.

"APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEIVING, YOU IDIOTIC BRAT!" the Godaime roared, "I'M HERE BEHIND THIS DESK BECAUSE OF YOU, YOU BRAT AND YOU BETTER REMEMBER THAT! I'M BOUND BY DUTY TO PROTECT THIS VILLAGE AND THAT INCLUDES KEEPING IT FROM BEING RAVISHED BY A DEMON LORD MASQUERADING AS A HARMLESS FOX KIT! IF I HAVE TO KNOCK YOU UNCONSCIOUS AND HAVE THE KIT KILLED I WILL!"

The two of them locked in a staring contest. In the cold silence that followed, Fukasaku remarked: "If you do that, then you better be prepared to live in a world without chakra, Tsunade-hime."

Sakura never thought she would be glad to be in the presence of a toad, but right now she felt forever indebted to Fukasaku-san for speaking those words. Indeed he managed to disrupt the growing tension as the other two turned to him.

"What?" Tsunade asked the old toad.

"The Bijuu, dear Tsunade-hime. They're the reason chakra exists in this world." Fukasaku-san said, like someone speaking to a child.

Naruto slapped a hand on his forehead protector, "Oh, yeah! The Bastard did say something like them being Chakra's manifestation or something."

"In the future it might be helpful to relate all relevant aspects of a topic when trying to prove your points, Naruto-chan." Fukasaku remarked dryly, "You cannot fault decisions made with poor knowledge when you're the one guilty of not giving it…"

"Ah… ha-ha…" Naruto laughed uneasily and scratched the back of his head.

"So it's true then? Human's are the ones that rise Nine-Tails?" Tsunade asked the toad incredulously.

"Hmm, yes. Not only the Kyuubi, all the other Bijuu as well. But it's true, yes. Our written history goes at least that far." Fukasaku calmly replied. "Naruto-chan, tell me if you can: Who was the previous Nine-Tails caretaker?"

"Hmm, the Bastard-Fox said something about it being the Sage of the Six Paths…"

There was a gasp of incredulity from Tsunade and Fukasaku opened his eyes.

"Really? Most intriguing. The Nine-Tails of the past was different than today. It was just as dangerous and powerful but never maliciously harmful. Yet, one day it all changed. It became twisted and violent. We summons just supposed the cycle had begun anew and that a new Nine-Tails had appeared, raised by some twisted mind. But for it to change its nature so throughoutly… an event of major scale would have to have happened…"

"Well, he _did_ remark for us to not be dumbasses this time around…" Naruto ventured.

"Hmm. I shall search the archives and see if I find anything of interest." Fukasaku decided, "Meanwhile, we at Myõbokuzan would like you to have this." He said unrolling a scroll.

Some quick hand seals latter and the scroll unsealed itself, revealing an orange trench coat with dark flames licking its bottom and two large scrolls.

"This scroll is the one we talked about." Fukasaku pointed at the thinner one, "It will permit you to call your clones from a predisposed location at your convenience. Kindly summon me or Ma to do that in a fight." Naruto nodded his acceptance and the toad moved to the next items.

"We want you to keep these too with you." He said holding the coat in his webbed hands for Naruto to grab, "They mark you as a Toad Sage, a mantle you inherit since you were Jiraya-chan's apprentice and studied at Myõbokuzan. The Fourth had one too, albeit different. Jiraya-chan preferred the headband… This is the Toad's scroll of sealing. It has many information on toad Jutsu and seals, kindly study it at your earliest convenience." He handled the largest scroll to Naruto, "In it you will also find the secret name of the holder of the Toad Summoning Contract. You can only summon it with silent techniques, never speak his name out loud – otherwise everyone would be able to have us as summons. When you find someone worthy, pass the technique to him or her, just as Jiraya-chan did with you."

Naruto gave a formal silent acceptance.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Put them on." Fukasaku urged him.

Naruto grabbed a hold of Kuro-chan and very deliberately placed it on the top of the ruined desk. Sakura twitched at the less than subtle provocation.

Has Naruto fumbled awkwardly with the coat Sakura watched as the kit clumsily made his way to the Godaime. Tsunade eyed it wearily for a second, as the small fox sniffed her hands, and trembled a bit when it gave her a tentative lick.

As he finished strapping the scroll on his back, Sakura took a good luck at Naruto. Finally she jokingly commented: "you look just like the Fourth, Naruto! Maybe you really are Hokage material." She immediately regretted saying it, as she felt Tsunade tense suddenly.

To Sakura's relief, however, Naruto didn't re-engage his harsh critics of the Yondaime. He smiled brightly and merely said, "Thanks, Sakura-chan!"

The Godaime was absently stroking the kits fur, lost in a world of her own when Naruto jerked her out of her reverie by taking the fox from her. As they looked to each other, Tsunade seemed to warily concede a point and the tension between the two vanished completely, as if it had never existed.

She gave a tired sigh, "So, how are we going to handle this?"

"What do you mean, Baa-chan?" Naruto frowned.

"The kit, Kuro-chan was it?" she clarified, "The people will interrogate themselves about it and as it grows it will likely resemble the Kyuubi more and more…"

"Just tell them the truth, baa-chan. No, wait!" he said holding his hand up to stop her from interrupting, "Tell them the truth. Tell them the Nine-Tails is imprisoned inside me and that this is the successor. Tell them it's our chance to rally the next Kyuubi to our side."

Tsunade peered at him and considered the blond young man appraisingly. Finally, she said quietly, "If you believe it best… What do you think, Fukasaku-san?"

"It might work real well, Tsunade-hime. I'd say it's your best bet."

"Very well. I'll make an announcement once the repairs are complete. People probably won't make much of a fuss while he's small…" she gave another tired sigh, "You're dismissed."

"See ya, Fukasaku-san, Baa-chan."

"Good-bye Naruto-chan. And Sakura-chan was it?" Fukasaku smirked at the uncomfortable kunoichi.

"It was a… hum… pleasure to meet you, Fukasaku-san." Sakura swallowed before turning to her master, "By your leave, Shishou."

Tsunade waved them off, hands already reaching for the bottle of sake.

**A/N.: Third Chapter after a long absence. For those interested, The Nightshade should be updated soon as well.**


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